LUDLOW, Vt. – Ludlow Planning Commission hosted a virtual meeting Tuesday, March 16 to hear ideas from local residents for a Master Plan for Ludlow Village, currently being worked on by Mount Ascutney Regional Commission as part of a Downtown Village Revitalization Grant.
Jason Rasmussen from MARC has begun working on the project, developing a plan that can be identify and prioritize improvements to Ludlow Village that can realistically be implemented.
The Downtown Village Revitalization Grant, totaling $18,000, covers the expense for the plan only, which will be finalized by May 31, 2021, and not for the improvement projects themselves.
Key among the considerations for the village are relaxing some zoning regulations to keep changes that have been made as part of responding to the pandemic, including outdoor dining, parking changes, and takeout windows.
Once priorities are identified, next steps would include fundraising and seeking out grants for selected projects.
Signage was a suggested improvement made by several meeting attendees as well as a suggestion from MARC. These would include limiting backlit signs, particularly those of gas stations, with Freeport, Maine given as an example.
Resident Phoebe Tucker suggested incorporating more art and murals throughout town, specifically suggesting a mural on the side of the Brewfest Beverage building.
Resident Eric Alden suggested establishing parklets, taking parking spaces and using them for tables outside of restaurants. He also suggested more historic looking lighting and incentivizing businesses to make façade improvements.
Ludlow Director of Planning, Rose Goings, suggested benches along the business district much like Saratoga Springs.
Planning Commission Chairman Alan Couch said he would like to bury the electric wires in the downtown. Resident and realtor Kathy Burns said that she and the Muellers, Okemo’s former owners, had looked at burying the wires years ago, but the cost was unbelievably high – upwards of several million dollars. She said that regardless of whether all the wires can be buried, that wires for phone and cable that are strung across Main Street should be addressed with Comcast and TDS, forcing them to run along the sides of the road. Burns suggested looking into Epic Grants for a project that large.
Justin Hyjek and Eliza Greene, owners of Main + Mountain and Homestyle Hostel, suggested establishing multi-use trails to link with some of the town parks like Dorsey Park, and revitalizing those spaces with community grills and gathering areas.
Reducing speed through Main Street, including speed bumps, moving parking to just one side of the street, was also brought up, as was navigational signage to highlight the downtown area.
Ludlow Municipal Manager Scott Murphy updated the group with several projects that are slated to happen in the town already this year, including a mountain bike trail behind the elementary school; two free public Wi-Fi hot spots at the library and the former high school building; and painted picnic tables that were purchased as part of a $6,000 Better Places Grant, designed by artists from Fletcher Farm and the independent school, to be placed in Veteran’s Memorial Park, Kesman Park, Elm Street Park, and Dorsey Park. The picnic tables will be accompanied by trash receptacles with coordinated trash removal.
Tucker suggested the installation of an electric vehicle charging station in the village. Couch said that the planning commission has looked into that in the past but it is “a little tricky” but said they should look at that further. Green said that an electric charging station was being installed at Main + Mountain and could be used by others in the town.
Local business owner Troy Caruso asked if there were funds available to purchase something on or near Main Street to add additional parking or a parking structure to help open up the street. Couch suggested that was a question for the Village Trustees but did not think there was a “rainy day fund” available for the purchase.
After the 90-minute-plus meeting, Couch thanked participants for their input with Rasmussen wrapping up the discussion by saying his team will be sifting through all suggestions to figure out what works, what doesn’t work, what might be problematic, as well cost implications. He said that there may be both short -term and long-term projects identified.
The next Ludlow Planning Commission Meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 19 at 6 p.m. via Zoom.